Stay
by Kat500
Summary: Torchwood/Angel X-over. Kinda. Set after Something Borrowed and before Exit Wounds for Torchwood and before AWITW and Shells for Angel. After Torchwood receives a strange artifact, something mysterious takes over the body of one of the team memebers.
1. The Beginning

"What is it?" Gwen asked.

"Looks to be a casket of some kind." Owen replied.

"Who would send us a casket?" Ianto asked as he descended the steps with a tray full of tea and coffee.

"Don't know, the card just says 'Torchwood'." Jack picked up the cardstock, turning it over to see if it had the sender's name on the back.

"Well, that's not in the least bit suspicious," Gwen replied as she circled the giant stone coffin.

"Nobody touch it until we figure out what it is exactly," Jack ordered, "and who sent it."

Everyone nodded in agreement, all except Gwen who had become entranced by the jewel placed at the top of the coffin as it glistened in the florescent light.

"Gwen," Jack spoke when he noticed her trance.

"Gwen!" He said again, this time with a little more force.

"Yes. Right. Got it, Jack," Gwen replied quickly, breaking her eyes away from the jewel to look at Jack.

Jack slowly looked away from her, his brow furrowed in concern and suspicion. It would appear the object in front of them held some sort of power and one they wouldn't mess with if he had any say in it. And he did.

"Alright, we'll deal with this later. Right now we've got a weevil to hunt down." Jack said as he grabbed his great coat from his office.

"Let's go."

Everyone followed Jack out the cog door, Gwen being the last to follow as she stopped to turn around and look at the casket. Something about it was drawing her to it and she couldn't quite put her finger on what that something was and it was making her slightly on edge.

* * *

"This weevil really shouldn't have been that hard to catch," Owen grunted as he dragged a drugged weevil through the door with Jack.

"Yeah, well, they haven't really been acting normal where weevils are concerned," Jack replied as they brought the creature down to the cells. Janet growled at the two exhausted men as they passed her by and Owen growled right back, causing her to slink back into the corner whining.

"Owen," Jack scolded.

"What, Jack? I'm tired and cranky. If she's going to growl, I'm going to growl right back."

Jack rolled his eyes at his employee as they gently laid the unconscious weevil on the cement bed.

"Come on, lets get to work on that casket." Jack ordered as he patted Owen on the shoulder. Owen sighed in protest, but followed his boss nonetheless.

Jack and Owen found the two women leaning against the wall of the autopsy room as they stared at the newly acquired object. Gwen looked up when she heard their footsteps approaching, smiling at the sight of Jack.

"Where do we start, Jack?" She asked, getting ever so anxious to figure out the mystery that fell into their laps.

"Research," Jack answered. "Like I said before, no one is touching that thing until we figure out its origin."

"You mean we have to sit and stare at a computer screen all night?" Owen whined as he dragged himself to his desk.

"Yes, Owen. More boring work for you." Jack replied sarcastically.

His three employees nodded their heads and got to work with very little complaining. The complaints that were thrown out were all from Owen who only received eye rolls from Gwen and Tosh followed by heavy sighs.

Hours of research went by with very little dug up. Apparently there was more information floating on the web about stone caskets with jewels on them, but nothing of real relevance. At the sight of his team, Jack knew it was time to send them home and with that he got up from his desk and leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms in the process.

"You've all worked hard enough, why don't you go home." Jack ordered and he didn't think they could've moved any faster with how quick they grabbed their coats. Except Gwen, which didn't really surprise him. She still sat at her desk, typing furiously at her keyboard.

Jack waved at Owen and Tosh as they practically ran out the cog door before he brought his attention back to Gwen. He slowly walked up to her as he stuffed his hands in to his pockets with full intention on sending her home.

"Gwen," he spoke her name quietly he wondered himself if she even heard him. But his question was quickly answered when she looked up at him with a look of surprise written on her face.

"Jack, yeah, hi. I know, go home. But I can't. I have to figure out what this thing is." Gwen replied.

"I understand that, Gwen. I want to know what it is, too. But you're going to have more success at finding something with some rest. Now, go home."

Releasing a sigh and with her fingers lingering on the keys, she stared at the screen while she debated about doing as Jack ordered. Pursing her lips, she slowly nodded her head in defeat.

"Good, I'll see you at eleven tomorrow," Jack said as he headed back to the office, closing the door behind him.

Grabbing her coat and purse from the back of her chair, Gwen started to head out the door when a small whisper stopped her in her tracks. She slowly turned around, her forehead crinkled in confusion. She could've sworn she heard her name in that whisper.

She jumped slightly as she heard it again, only this time it was a little louder. Setting her purse and coat on the railing, she headed over to the autopsy room where the whisper had come from. The casket looked creepy as it sat in the dark room.

With shaky legs, Gwen slowly descended the stares, noticing although it was dark the jewel still managed to sparkle immensely. Gwen stepped hesitantly towards the object, staring at the jewel as she heard her name once again. Taking a deep breath, she stood at the front of the casket where the jewel rested and lifted a shaky hand to it.

She just wanted to touch it, wanted to know what it felt like. After that, she wouldn't have the urge anymore and wouldn't be so obsessed with it. She knew Jack ordered everyone not to touch it, but she just had to; it did call out to her after all. Literally.

Just as her fingers were about to land on the red jewel, it caved into the casket, releasing a kind of dust into the air and into her lungs. Causing her to cough and gag as the dust invaded her. Gwen grabbed at her throat as her coughs became worse, collapsing to her knees as she gripped the stone object for support. Her eyes watered and the tears quickly fell down her cheeks; dripping to the cold floor below.

Jack had apparently heard her coughing and came running. Gwen could see the anger and disappointment in his eyes as he saw what had happened. He could see the caved in jewel and Gwen's current state and put two and two together. He rushed down to her side and picked her up in his arms, carrying her to the sofa and gently laid her down. He quickly rushed to the phone in his office to dial Owen's number but looked up in surprise when Gwen disconnected the call.

"I'm fine, Jack." She said.

Though she looked fine, Jack had experienced enough to know for sure she wasn't. You didn't inhale mystery dust with zero affects. So, with that thought in mind he stood from his spot behind his desk and rested his fists on the hard wood as he leaned over to her.

"You are not fine, Gwen. We need to examine you."

"Then it can wait til morning. I'm tired, Owen's tired. It can wait." Gwen replied and with that said she turned and left the hub with Jack following close behind.

He grabbed her arm and turned her to face him, she had a look of irritation on her face as she stared him down.

"Jack, let go I'm fine," Gwen ordered as she tried to break the grip he had on her arm.

"You are not fine, Gwen," Jack argued.

"Yes. Jack. I a--" Gwen was cut off when her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed into Jack as a fit of seizures rushed through her body.

"Gwen!! Gwen!!" Jack exclaimed as he held her body tight in fear as tears rolled down his cheeks.


	2. Unexpected Visitors

Owen arrived shortly after Jack had called him in a panic. He could hear the distress in his boss' voice and knew it had to be something huge to make such an impact and so with no questions being asked, the young doctor rushed back to the hub as fast as his legs could carry him.

"What happened?"

"Its that damn thing!!" Jack exclaimed as he pointed in the direction of the autopsy room.

"She went to touch it, after I strictly ordered you all to _not_ touch it and something came out of it. She started coughing but insisted she was fine and when I attempted to make her stay she seized."

Owen only nodded his head as he took out what instruments he needed. Taking the stethoscope, he pressed it to her chest to check her heart beat and breathing. Her breathing was slightly irregular, but her heart beat made him worry. It was pounding so hard he would've thought she just ran a marathon.

"She needs to go the hospital," Owen explained as he stood from his spot by the sofa. Jack nodded his head in agreement, his eyes filled with worry.

"What did you hear?"

"Her heart is racing uncontrollably and its showing no sign of slowing down."

Owen was about to walk away to head to the autopsy room when Gwen quickly gripped his wrist, causing both Jack and Owen to jump.

"Jesus, Gwen. What the bloody hell?" Owen gently pulled his hand out of hers.

"No," Gwen swallowed a lump in her throat as she struggled to speak, "no hospitals.""What? No. You need help, Gwen."

"No, hospitals. No doctors. They can't help."

"What are you talking about? Of course they can," Owen argued with her, his forehead scrunching in confusion at her words.

"Not… with… this."

"Gwen, honey, you're not making any sense," Jack kneeled down to her level and held her hand in both of his.

"I don't know why, but I just know doctors and hospitals won't help."

Wiping hair from her forehead, Jack looked up at Owen with determination set in his features. Standing up, he breathed in deeply before speaking.

"Call Tosh and Ianto. Get them here immediately. We've got work to do," Jack ordered and Owen nodded his head before dialing his phone.

Tosh and Ianto passed through the cog door twenty minutes later and saw Gwen asleep on the sofa; her skin glistened with sweat. Drops of it dripped down her temple to the pillow which cradled her head. Tosh felt her eyes well up with tears, but was determined to not let them fall. Not yet at least.

Slowly she walked up to her colleague and sat down on a small portion of the sofa, brushing her fingers along Gwen's forehead. She gasped at how hot she felt and placed a shaky hand to her mouth in an attempt to hide her shock.

"Gwen? Gwen are you awake?" Tosh spoke quietly, not wanting to wake her up if she was still asleep.

"Barely," Gwen whispered.

"How are you feeling?""Like I'm dying.""No. Don't talk like that, Gwen. You'll be alright," Tosh tried to reassure her, but she herself wasn't sure if her friend would be okay. And it scared her.

"I wish I could believe that, Tosh. But for the first time since I joined Torchwood, I feel no hope that it will be alright. Something inside me tells me it won't be. And I'm scared," Gwen's eyes dropped tears at the last few words and she scrambled to grab a hold of Tosh's hand.

"Thank you, Tosh."

"What?" Tosh didn't understand what she was being thanked for. "Why? For what?"

"For being a wonderful friend. For being there when I needed someone to talk to about my problems. Mainly my feminine ones," Gwen explained as she released a small grin.

"No thanks needed. If anyone should be thanked, its you. You helped me crawl out of my shell, Gwen. Helped feel more confident about myself and I couldn't be more grateful," Tosh sniffed as she felt herself losing the battle with her emotions.

"Tosh!" Jack called for her from the autopsy room, causing the asian woman to look from Gwen to Jack's direction. Looking back to Gwen, Tosh smiled at her friend before standing up.

"I should probably get to work. The sooner we figure this thing out, the sooner you'll get better."

Gwen only smiled as she closed her eyes, the pain she felt exhausted her to the point that all she wanted to do was sleep. Tosh hesitantly walked away from Gwen, not looking away from her until she got to the railings surrounding the autopsy room. She saw Jack, Owen and Ianto surrounding the object; all sharing the same confused and frustrated look.

"I think we should open it, see what's inside," Owen suggested as he took a step towards it.

"Yeah, that's a real bright idea," Ianto piped up. "Lets all get infected."

"Gas masks wise guy," was Owen's retort.

"And who's to say they'll work on this situation," Tosh added her two cents, agreeing with Ianto.

"Well, just staring at it isn't helping, now is it?" Owen replied, his aggravation showing through his voice.

"Alright, listen. Owen's right, but so are the two of you," Jack pushed off against the wall he had been leaning on and uncrossed his arms to speak to his team with authority in his posture.

His team stood and stared at him as they awaited his orders. They knew if anyone could help Gwen it was Jack. Captain Jack Harkness, he could always fix any problem thrown their way and they had no doubt in their heart or minds this was any different. At least that's what they kept telling themselves. Even Jack held that same lack of doubt, but it was getting harder with each passing second to hold onto that belief. Gwen was dying, they all knew it. Especially Gwen herself knew it, except she believed it was inevitable.

"We're opening it," Jack decided, receiving looks of disbelief from both Tosh and Ianto.

"Look, I know its not a smart decision, but we have no other choice."

"I'll get the masks," Ianto said as he headed up the stairs to retrieve them.

"I'll get the crowbar," Owen joined in followed by Tosh who offered to get the technical devices to hook up to the object. Jack ran up the stairs to check on Gwen as his team gathered the stuff needed and found her fast asleep; her chest slowly rising and falling. She looked so peaceful to him at that moment, though he knew she felt otherwise.

"We're ready, sir," Ianto spoke, causing Jack to break his eyes away from Gwen to look at Ianto. Nodding his head, he turned and headed back to the autopsy room. There was work to do and they needed to be quick about it.

Pulling the masks on, Jack nodded to Owen as the go ahead to pry the thing open. Owen nodded back and was just about to ram the flat part of the crowbar under the lid when a voice caught them all off guard.

"I really don't think that's wise."

Jack looked up and saw a man standing on the second level of the catwalk, a small smile planted on his face. He wore a colorful shirt under a suit jacket with jeans and a brown hat.

"Who are you and how did you get in here," Jack exclaimed as he stormed up the steps to get a better look at the man.

"Name's Whistler and I've been sent by the PTB."


	3. The Bad News

"The PTB? What's that," Owen asked as he walked up behind Jack.

Everyone had taken off their gas masks and were looking at the strange man as they waited for his answer. As Whistler opened his mouth to speak, Jack interrupted by taking a step forward; shoving his hands into his pockets with a look of confidence.

"The PTB. An Abbreviation for The Powers That Be. A name for the enigmatic and ancient forces that assist the side of good. Am I close?"

"How," Whistler asked, confused.

"I'm Captain Jack Harkness and if the PTB sent you, they would've informed you of the fact that I'm immortal and have been around for awhile."

Whistler's face formed into a small grin at Jack's words, leaning forward onto the railing and clasping his hands together.

"And if you knew the PTB, you'd know how cryptic they can be."

Jack couldn't help the smile that crossed his face and nodded his head once.

"Touché," Jack replied. "So, are you going to tell us what you're doing here?"

"Like I said, I was sent by the PTB and I'm here to give you a message," Whistler answered, his face turning into a frown.

Jack noticed the change in his expression and crossed his arms in front of his chest, "why do I have a feeling I'm not going to like this."

"The news isn't good, I'm not going to soften this by telling you it is."

"Then stop procrastinating and tell us."

"There's nothing you can do for her. Her body is being taken over by a pure demon known as an Old One. You were never meant to receive the sarcophagus."

"If that's true, then why did it have our name on it," Tosh asked as she walked up behind Jack; brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Apparently someone had other plans," Whistler replied as he walked down to their level.

He walked over to where Gwen was lying and took off his hat, sadness covering his features as he stared down at the young woman dying before him. He hated being a messenger for The Powers, knowing for a fact there was no hope.

"Now wait just a second. Did you say demon," Owen asked once the realization dawned on him.

"What? You deal with aliens everyday, why is a demon such a hard concept?"

Owen opened and closed his mouth as he tried to find an answer but failed at doing so. Jack looked away from Owen to look back at Whistler, the answer he was given was not what he wanted to hear and was determined to find a different solution other than to watch Gwen fade away.

"There has to be some way to save her," Jack spoke. "We have alien technology. There's got to be something that'll help."

"Jack, you're not seriously thinking that," Tosh looked at her boss with a shocked expression.

"Do we have a choice, Tosh? This is Gwen and I'm not just going to sit around and watch her die!!"

"Jack," Gwen whispered and Jack turned to see her extending a hand to him.

Slowly walking to her, her grabbed her hand in his, noticing the moistness of her skin. Sitting down beside her, he returned the smile sent his way. Even during a time like this she kept a positive outlook.

"I'm dying, Jack," Gwen said.

"No, there's got to be a way," Jack argued.

Gwen shook her head, knowing what was happening to her was inevitable. Neither one noticed their co-workers slowly retreating back to the autopsy room along with Whistler.

"Jack, I need you to know something. I don't want to die without telling you.""Gwen, honey, you are not going to die."

"Yes, Jack, I am. I'm not denying it. Why are you?"

"I can't lose you. I've felt more alive since I met you and if you die…" Jack trailed off, the pain in his heart becoming too much.

"Jack," Gwen whispered, cupping his face in her hand.

The broken man looked into her eyes and he noticed the acceptance along with her strength. She smiled at him again in an attempt to reassure him but it didn't help; he loved her and he had just recently realized it himself. Before she had gotten sick and he planned on telling her, again before she had gotten sick.

"I… I love you, Jack," Gwen chocked out as a fit of coughs took over.

Jack pulled her into his arms as he tried to comfort her, her coughs becoming worse by the second. He was terrified and there was nothing he could do. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Gwen as she released a blood curdling scream.

"THE PAIN, JACK!! IT HURTS!!"

Gwen fell back onto the sofa as she gripped at anything she could get her hands on in an attempt to rid herself of the pain. Her screams got the attention of everybody else and came running; all sharing the same terrified expression.

"Jack, what's happening," Tosh asked as tears fell down her cheeks.

"Is she going to be alright," Owen asked.

"I DON'T KNOW!! I DON'T KNOW!!"

Ianto didn't speak, he just stared at the pair on the sofa, fear gripping his heart at what was happening to Gwen. He knew Gwen's death would be the end of Jack, the pain his Captain would feel could very well be the death of the man and permanently.

Looking over his should at his team, he made a decision to give Gwen privacy and picked her up off the sofa; carrying her to his office and into his sleeping quarters. He would allow his team to say their good-byes, but he didn't want them to see her slowly dying. Not just for Gwen, but for his team as well; the situation was hard on all of them and he wanted to make it as painless as possible.

Lying her sleeping form on the bed he made to leave when her hand grabbed his wrist. Turning around, he saw a pleading expression on her face; knowing she wanted him to stay. Nodding his head, he gently laid down beside her and allowed her to curl up into his chest while his arms wrapped protectively around her small form.

He could feel himself begin to accept the fact she was dying, but that didn't lessen the pain he was feeling. He allowed a few drops of tears to fall from his eyes, but denied any others. He had to be strong for Gwen and the rest of his team, they counted on him for that and he wasn't going to fail them now.


End file.
